Match Preview/Thread - Morton vs Partick (11th March)

[so72]

1 hour ago, dunning1874 said:

The foundation of our successful runs of results this season has been first and foremost how high up the park we press out of possession and the intensity with the ball. We've seen a team selection in the last three games that has basically left us with three of the front four unable to press effectively, and the problems in our performances stem from there.

Formations have fluctuated over the season but if you generally view it as a 4-2-3-1 for simplicity's sake, our best runs have been with the three behind the striker being McGrattan, Robbie Crawford and Quitongo. Quitongo being out just now can't be helped and he's probably the most critical of those three in moving us up the park, both in pressing and as an outball, but that makes it all the more important not to remove the other two.

When you have Miller, Ali Crawford and Muirhead in those three positions instead you've pretty much entirely lost the ability to press from that three. I wouldn't accuse any of laziness but none of them have the same defensive positional sense as our best three there and simply don't press nearly as well because they don't know how. We also see them not offering enough protection to the full backs or helping out the sitting midfield two as much as McGrattan, R. Crawford or Quitongo.

A team could handle one of those drop offs defensively if you think one of those players is going to offer more creatively and want to accommodate them for that reason (although arguing that for any of them is a massive stretch, especially Miller). You can't handle all three at once.

It's exacerbated by not having Gillespie or Grimshaw in midfield. As you don't have as much pressing and teams are waltzing into our half with no pressure, Robbie Crawford is having to push up out of the sitting two to shut the ball down in the absence of central one of that three getting back behind the ball. That then leaves Blues alone as the sitting midfielder, which is a difficult task for any player but one he is especially unsuitable for. You've seen how often in the last three games we've had players not being shut down on the edge of our box and particularly the number of second balls we fail to win in our own half.

Again you maybe get away with Crawford and Blues as a sitting two if you've still got the defensive presence of McGrattan and Quitongo out wide, but even that feels a stretch. If Gillespie's not going to start for either fitness or form, then we need to have Grimshaw in there. The drop off in standard at right back with Pignatiello being a downgrade on Grimshaw is less than the drop off in midfield without either of them.

You get away with Muirhead or Ali Crawford playing centrally if the other three in the front four are Oakley, McGrattan and Quitongo. You can get away with one of those two or Miller out wide if the other three are Oakley, Robbie Crawford and one of Quitongo/McGrattan. You can't have two of them behind Oakley for this system to work, never mind all three.

I think this is a decent breakdown and, for me, the most obvious change would be to put Grimshaw back into midfield. Grimshaw and the two Crawfords is a very good midfield for this level. Get McGratten on the Left and then if Jai's injured, I'm not opposed to playing Robbie on the right, just for his ability to change a game and since we don't have anything else. Oakley is a much more robust centre-forward than Muirhead so he has to start imo.

[GiGi]

I don't see the need to move Grimshaw from his best position.

I think it's time to drop Blues and get Gillespie back in the midfield with the two Crawfords playing ahead of him. Gillespie's been rusty in his last couple of sub appearances but it's worth remembering he was clearly our best player this year up until around Christmas.

McGrattan obviously should just be starting every game he's available and I'll be annoyed if Miller finds himself ahead of him again on Friday. Especially while Quitongo is injured, there's no one in this squad that merits a place ahead of McGrattan and it's about time Imrie realised that.

[Admin]

[LargsTON]

12 hours ago, GiGi said:

I don't see the need to move Grimshaw from his best position.

I think it's time to drop Blues and get Gillespie back in the midfield with the two Crawfords playing ahead of him. Gillespie's been rusty in his last couple of sub appearances but it's worth remembering he was clearly our best player this year up until around Christmas.

McGrattan obviously should just be starting every game he's available and I'll be annoyed if Miller finds himself ahead of him again on Friday. Especially while Quitongo is injured, there's no one in this squad that merits a place ahead of McGrattan and it's about time Imrie realised that.

Tbh I've not been overly impressed with Ally Crawford at all.  

Shwake 

Grimshaw  Baird O'Connor  Waters 

              Gillespie   Crawford 

 Miller              Blues          McGrattan

                        Oakley 

I'd be tempted along those lines until Jai and Strapp are back or a variation of that line up.  I don't think we can accommodate Oakley and Muirhead in the same team on the evidence I've seen thus far.

[DreamOakTree]

Grimshaw has to be centre mid for me. He can influence the game far more from there. 

[EanieMeany]

McGrattan on the right, King on the left and Gillespie or Grimshaw along with the two Crawfords is the obvious solution given there's no other options for the right. Miller is rotten, King more than merits a go ahead of him and isn't going to be any worse. 

There's no reason we shouldn't look at alternating Grimshaw and Gillespie in midfield though, depending on the game...or perhaps even having both of them together. Grimshaw gives us something totally different in the middle of the park, and Pignatiello is a more offensive full-back than he is so there's ways of adapting our approach there without making huge structural changes. You really need that kind of flexibility over a season and we don't, in all honesty, seem to have it.

As for the forward, I don't really get this clamour to drop Muirhead . He created the two first-half chances at Ochilview, set up the first goal, had a lovely wee ball to Robbie Crawford to put the cross in for the equaliser and also set up the chance Oakley had against Ayr; ditto, his shot from the wing on Saturday was about the closest we really got to anything. If any of the midfielders fancy stepping up and being as creative as he's been then maybe you could easily dismiss him, but as it is you just can't really drop the guy who's made pretty much every chance your team's had in recent matches.

 

[vikingTON]

Pigniatello was absolutely dreadful in an attacking sense in the Arbroath game not too long ago. It shut down our entire right hand side. He is nowhere near as effective as Grimshaw in that role - and I fail to see why we should lose the best right back in the division when we have signed about 17 central midfielders since August. There are plenty of options there - we do not actually need to play this 'Blues as quarterback' nonsense. 

[DreamOakTree]

27 minutes ago, vikingTON said:

Pigniatello was absolutely dreadful in an attacking sense in the Arbroath game not too long ago. It shut down our entire right hand side. He is nowhere near as effective as Grimshaw in that role - and I fail to see why we should lose the best right back in the division when we have signed about 17 central midfielders since August. There are plenty of options there - we do not actually need to play this 'Blues as quarterback' nonsense. 

Fair enough but centre mid is by far the most difficult position to play in, and Grimshaw looks an absolute natural there. Against Dundee his control, long and short passing, tackling, pace and driving runs were a class apart from any player in this division, never mind Morton. Why we wouldn’t utilise that ability is beyond me. 

[TRVMP]

2 hours ago, EanieMeany said:

McGrattan on the right, King on the left and Gillespie or Grimshaw along with the two Crawfords is the obvious solution given there's no other options for the right. Miller is rotten, King more than merits a go ahead of him and isn't going to be any worse. 

There's no reason we shouldn't look at alternating Grimshaw and Gillespie in midfield though, depending on the game...or perhaps even having both of them together. Grimshaw gives us something totally different in the middle of the park, and Pignatiello is a more offensive full-back than he is so there's ways of adapting our approach there without making huge structural changes. You really need that kind of flexibility over a season and we don't, in all honesty, seem to have it.

As for the forward, I don't really get this clamour to drop Muirhead . He created the two first-half chances at Ochilview, set up the first goal, had a lovely wee ball to Robbie Crawford to put the cross in for the equaliser and also set up the chance Oakley had against Ayr; ditto, his shot from the wing on Saturday was about the closest we really got to anything. If any of the midfielders fancy stepping up and being as creative as he's been then maybe you could easily dismiss him, but as it is you just can't really drop the guy who's made pretty much every chance your team's had in recent matches.

I agree completely with this. Yes, the last two games were poor for him but against QP he was utterly instrumental. It's just not true that he can't play anywhere except the number 9 position, such as out on the left. Certainly it's not his natural position but he's doing fine out there and as you say it's not like we've got Serge Gnabry sitting around waiting for a shot.

[RossMcC1874]

For me going forward I would like to see us go with this. 

                  Schwake 

Grimshaw  Baird  O'Connor  Waters

   Gillespie        Blues 

Muirhead    R Crawford   McGrattan 

                Oakley 

When Quitongo is back and Strapp then they both come back in for Waters and Muirhead.

I haven't been impressed with Ali Crawford at all I don't doubt there is a player in there but more so coming off the bench to effect the game not for the full 90 mins. Miller has flashes for about 10 mins then fades away shouldn't be starting for me when he is playing the way he is. Oakley and Muirhead can rotate up top when everyone is back depending on who is in form. Gillespie can sit deep and spray passes and win the ball, Blues can be box to box for his energy and workrate you could argue to swap Blues with R Crawford as the attack midfielder but I think this could be changed mid game depending on how they are both playing and if we are getting overun in a game then one of them drops back and we play three in the middle. 

[vikingTON]

2 hours ago, DreamOakTree said:

Fair enough but centre mid is by far the most difficult position to play in, and Grimshaw looks an absolute natural there. Against Dundee his control, long and short passing, tackling, pace and driving runs were a class apart from any player in this division, never mind Morton. Why we wouldn’t utilise that ability is beyond me. 

That's hardly surprising.

[EanieMeany]

1 hour ago, TRVMP said:

It's just not true that he can't play anywhere except the number 9 position, such as out on the left.

Agreed, I think he can quite easily play in a wider role or even behind a forward, but it’s been tricker for him in the last few games given the somewhat haphazard and disjointed nature of the team.
 

I actually think he’d excel in a sort of “false winger” position, starting on the wing but being free to come inside either to link up play or to get close to the central striker: a good proportion of his goals come from those situations, and he’s shown himself to be a threat in carrying the ball up the pitch in those areas too. For that to work best you’d need the right context around it, including the right type of number 9 (a Gavin Reilly, for example)and an over-lapping fullback amongst other things, but it’d bring potentially significant gains.It’s something I’d quite like to see becoming one of our tools for next season.